To reason out such thinking it is necessary to understand that the world is currently facing a huge challenge financially and most of the countries are primarily battling with COVID and its added complexities in difficult areas pertaining to that of economic growth, productivity, poverty, and ageing populations. In wake of such an unprecedented situation, many governments may feel more inclined towards prioritizing science and engineering education as a part of the ‘solution’. However, experts have repeatedly pointed out that to solve the complexity of this scale, countries would require well-rounded leaders with analytical and creative thinking that is more associated with arts, humanities, and social science degrees. Therefore, it is not wrong to assume that there is a dire need for the world to eventually move towards the intersection of technical jobs along with the hiring of people who are experts in creativity and empathy, and design.
According to Professor David Garza, rector of Monterrey Institute of Technology, who was a part of the virtual Latin America Universities Summit held in July this year, there will definitely be a need for stronger leadership to deal with the complex problems that have exacerbated in the pandemic. He further said that studies have shown that graduates from humanities and social sciences degrees tend to perform best against a range of leadership skills because of their ability to see a broader scenario. Many Professors at the same summit believed that the world is seeing a potential change in attitudes, habits, and values of young people who are currently at school and may possibly have another way of seeing what is more valuable in the world. Another panellist, Miryam Singer, vice-president for research at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, went on to say that the arts will be part of the solution to the pandemic as much as the sciences and technology.
Most of us don’t really see how humanities majors can be a part of the front-line response. Currently, engineers, biologists, and many others in fields with established reputation and experience for translational research have been pushed into action. They seem to be working together to create crucial and life-saving diagnostics and therapeutics to help with the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeping in mind this inter-mix at large, experts from around the world have pointed out that at such a time, the fields of arts and humanities address a very crucial spiritual dimension of human beings and that they enrich societies that cannot only be fed on productivity, entrepreneurship, innovation, and AI. Therefore in a pandemic, when people were in trouble because of lockdown and the drastic financial crash, emotions and humanity became the talk of the town. It is in moments like these when we all witnessed streets covered with art as a form of expression of intense human feelings, emotions, and coping mechanisms. At this juncture, humanities scholars can contribute crucially. For instance, you can engage in research that delves into the humanity, privilege and access aspects of public health and medicine.
